Lips parted and slightly upturned as if in mid-expression, Mark Manders’ huge, sculpted head at Tanya Bonkadar Gallery seems to be forming a thought, while at the same time its entire being appears to still be under construction. Far from coming across as a figure freed from a stone, a la Michelangelo, Manders’ youthful apparition has taken shape but stays closely associated with the process of manipulating the clumps of clay still clustered at the neck and back of the head. However, what looks like clay, a malleable material, is actually bronze, a reality that stops cold the idea that the figure might be further developed. Titled ‘Monument,’ the sculpture remembers the artist’s mother, who lost a child and – indicated by the material at her throat – held back her grief. (On view through July 31st).
